A friend sent this to me;
By Thucydides, Written 431 B.C.
“In going to Sicily you are leaving many enemies behind you, and you
apparently want to make new ones there and have them also on your hands. . . .
[E]ven if we did conquer the Sicilians, there are so many of them and they
live so far off that it would be very difficult to govern them. It is
senseless to go against people who, even if conquered, could not be
controlled, while failure would leave us much worse off than we were before we made the attempt. . . . [T]he next best thing is to make a demonstration of our power and then, after a short time, go away again. We all know that what is most admired is what is farthest off and least liable to have its
reputation put to the test. . . . The right thing is that we should spend our
new gains at home and on ourselves instead of on these exiles who are begging for assistance and whose interest it is to tell lies and make us believe them, who have nothing to contribute themselves except speeches, who leave all the danger to others and, if they are successful, will not be properly grateful, while if they fail in any way they will involve their friends in their own ruin.” - Nicias
Cool, huh? 
Peace,
mangeorge